russellalancampbell I will not add much to the many other worthy reviews of "TPODG" on this site except to say that, with the benefit of today's freeze frame, we can really appreciate the detail and quality to be found every shot. Each shot is lit with the mood in mind - and the lighting shifts as the mood shifts. The set dressing is a highlight on its own. The bric-a-brac in the backstage of The Two Turtles has been carefully selected for authenticity and to enhance the dramatic thrust of the scenes between Hadfield and Lansbury. The attic in which Dorian hides his portrait is a world of its own with a visual history of Dorian's innocent childhood days. It is all the more shocking that his corrupted adulthood as symbolised by his increasingly grotesque portrait is juxtaposed with the symbols of his days of contentment as a boy with a privileged and well-educated upbringing. Please watch this film if you wish to see what can be done with film when it is treated as being art.

calvinnme ... as he was directed to play the part of Dorian Gray stiff and cold. I was motivated to write this review after watching last week's episode of TCM's "The Essentials" and hearing co-host Sally Field say that Hatfield was so dull, and that perhaps Peter Lawford should have played the part! Right studio, wrong actor. They were not making a musical comedy here! Some people on the Turner Classic Movies message board were suggesting Tyrone Power. The point is, these folks are not getting it at all.Hatfield plays Dorian Gray, an extremely handsome man of inherited wealth in Victorian England, who at age 22 has his portrait painted by his friend Basil Harwood. After the painting is finished Dorian wishes that he could remain forever young and the painting grow old. He does this in the presence of a replica of an Egyptian idol (a cat) that by legend has the ability to grant such wishes. Dorian gets his wish, although he doesn't realize it at first. The point is, the painting takes on the "life force" of Dorian. That is why the shots of it are the only ones taken in Technicolor in this black and white film. Dorian, in turn, "becomes" the painting. His expression is dull, lifeless, yet he is forever young. Likewise, the painting does more than age. The painting reflects the sins of Dorian to the point that, by the end of the film, the portrait looks like that of a demonic debauched horrible creature with smaller demons surrounding him.If somebody who leaps off the screen with charisma such as Tyrone Power had played Dorian Gray the way Power normally played most of his roles, the film would come out entirely wrong. I guess the things that do not ring true is how the women in Dorian's life are always saying that anybody that looks at Dorian can see that there is nothing but good in him. Wrong. There is nothing but nothing in him - he is like a handsome corpse in a coffin. Others have criticized the film because we do not see the great evils that Dorian does in his pursuit of pleasure. Thank not only the production code for that, but Oscar Wilde himself, who never enumerated Dorian's sins because he thought it would be better if the reader (in this case viewer) projected their own ideas about what Dorian had done to cause the portrait to transform so horribly.As for the other players, kudos to a young Angela Lansbury as Sybil Vane, the tavern singer who captures Dorian's heart after he has already become his portrait. Also, George Sanders, who convinces Dorian that only a life dedicated to pleasure is worth living, is always convincing and even witty as a devil in human form. It does beg the question, if Sanders is living the same kind of life as Dorian, since basically Dorian is a "disciple of his, why does he age normally through the 20 years or so that the film spans? This one is very much worth your time.

Spikeopath The Picture of Dorian Gray is directed by Albert Lewin, and he also adapts the screenplay from the novel written by Oscar Wilde. It stars Hurd Hatfield, George Sanders, Angela Lansbury, Donna Reed, Peter Lawford, Lowell Gilmore, Richard Fraser and Douglas Walton. Music is by Herbert Stothart and cinematography by Harry Stradling Sr. Dorian Gray of Mayfair and Selby.Oscar Wilde's Faustian tale about a young Victorian gentleman who sells his soul to retain his youth, is given a magnificent make-over by MGM. Pumping into it a budget reputedly of $2 million, the look and feel is perfect for this macabre observation of vanity, greed and self destruction. In many ways it's still an under valued movie, mainly because there will always be Wilde purists who think it lacks the writer's poetic spikiness. While horror fans quite often venture into the picture expecting some sort of violent classic ripe with sex, drugs and debauchery unbound.Lewin crafts his film in understated manner, never allowing the themes in the source material to become overblown just for dramatic purpose. He cloaks it all with an atmosphere of eeriness, keeping the debasing nature of Dorian Gray subdued. The horror aspects here mostly are implied or discussed in elegantly stated conversations, the horror in fact is purely in the characterisation of Dorian himself, we really don't need to see actual things on screen, we are urged to be chilled to the marrow by his mere presence, which works because Lewin has personalised us into this man's sinful descent by way of careful pacing and character formation.There are some jolt moments of course, notably the famous inserts of Technicolor into the black and white film, the impact of such bringing the portrait of the title thundering into our conscious, but this is not about thrill rides and titillation, the film, like its source, is intellectual. Lewin is aided considerably by Stradling's beautiful photography, which in turn either vividly realises the opulent abodes or darkens the dens of iniquities, just like Lewin, Stradling and the art department work wonders and prove to be fine purveyors of their craft. Hatfield is wonderful, it's an inspired piece of casting, with his angular features and cold dead eyes, he effortlessly suggests the black heart now beating where once there was a soul. Yet even he, and the rest of the impressive cast, is trumped by Sanders as Lord Henry. Cynical, brutal yet rich with witticisms, in Sanders' excellent hands Lord Henry becomes the smiling, devil like mentor perched on Dorian's shoulder. Dorian and Lord Henry are movie monsters, proof positive that not all monsters need to be seen hacking off limbs or drinking blood. In this case, the decaying of the soul is far more terrifying.Fascinating, eloquent, intelligent and frightening, a true classic in fact. 9/10

Claudio Carvalho In 1886, in the Victorian London, the corrupt Lord Henry Wotton (George Sanders) meets the pure Dorian Gray (Hurd Hatfield) posing for talented painter Basil Hallward (Lowell Gilmoure). Basil paints Dorian's portrait and gives the beautiful painting and an Egyptian sculpture of a cat to him while Henry corrupts his mind and soul telling that Dorian should seek pleasure in life. Dorian wishes that his portrait could age instead of him.Dorian goes to a side show in the Two Turtles in the poor neighborhood of London and he falls in love with the singer Sibyl Vane (Angela Lansbury). Dorian decides to get married with her and tells to Lord Henry that convinces him to test the honor of Sibyl. Dorian Gray leaves Sibyl and travels abroad, and when he returns to London, Lord Henry tells him that Sibyl committed suicide for love. Along the years, Dorian's friends age while he is still the same, but his picture discloses his evilness and corruptive life. Can he still have salvation or is his soul trapped in the doomed painting?"The Picture of Dorian Gray" is a wonderful and timeless adaptation of Oscar Wilde's novel. The film has magnificent cinematography in black and white and art direction, great acting and a good screenplay. My vote is eight. Title (Brazil): "O Retrato de Dorian Gray" ("The Picture of Dorian Gray")